Page:Selections from the writings of Kierkegaard.djvu/136

 as if it concerned the desire of his heart; he spoke briefly, as is seemly; but he will never forget that you required a hundred years to obtain a son of your old age, against all expections; that you had to draw the knife before being permitted to keep Isaac ; he will never forget that in a hun- dred and thirty years you never got farther than to faith.

PRELIMINARY EXPECTORATION
An old saying, derived from the world of experience, has it that "he who will not work shall not eat. But, strange to say, this does not hold true in the world where it is thought applicable; for in the world of matter the law of imperfection prevails, and we see, again and again, that he also who will not work has bread to eat—indeed, that he who sleeps has a greater abundance of it than he who works. In the world of matter everything belongs to whosoever happens to possess it; it is thrall to the law of indifference, and he who happens to possess the Ring also has the Spirit of the Ring at his beck and call, whether now he be Noureddin or Aladdin, and he who controls the treasures of this